Unusual Meeting
by Teresa Lisbon 123
Summary: While searching the internet, Jane discovers a site called 'FanFiction.'  He runs into one writer that he especially likes. He has no way of knowing that it's Lisbon.
1. Fan What? ? ?

**A/N: So…In this story, Season three's finale hasn't happened yet.**

**I don't know how many chapters this is going to be, but probably not very many.**

**Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist. (Do you think that I should add the disclaimer: I don't own FanFiction . net?) All of the writings and pen-names are made up.**

Patrick Jane was in mourning. The CBI had decided that the couch in the bull-pen was pointless, and was making him less efficient, so they took it away, and told him to sit at his desk.

And he was bored.

After a few moments, he cut on his laptop, and went online. He wasn't really looking for anything; he was just too bored to sit in the seat doing nothing anymore.

He thought for a few moments, before typing his name into the search engine.

There were a few stories about cases he had solved and such, but then he noticed a site a little different from the others.

"FanFiction, huh? I wonder what that is…"

He clicked.

There was story after story about some TV show called "The Mentalist."

And the characters' names were the names of him and the people he worked with.

He curiously clicked one of the stories.

After reading for a few moments, his eyes narrowed.

"'_Oh, Lisbon, I'm so glad you're ok!' _

_She threw her arms around him and replied, 'I am fine. Your plan worked perfectly.'_

'_But what if it hadn't? What if he had shot you? It would have been my fault!'_

_She smiled at him. 'Jane, I always trust your plans. You should, too.' _

_But she could see that he was still extremely worried, so she gently leaned up and pressed her lip against his. Then, she…"_

He quickly hit the 'back' key. _What is this, _he wondered. _I always trust my plans. And Lisbon wouldn't kiss me if there was even a small chance that my plan wouldn't work, especially if it put her in danger. If anything, she'd hit me!_

Slowly, though, a grin spread across his face. _After all, _he thought, _if this is the kinds of stuff they write about Lisbon and me, I wonder what they write about Rigsby and Van Pelt?_

He changed the settings to "Wayne R. And Grace vP. Romance."

He was surprised at how few there were. One, however, caught his eyes: "Deserves."

The summery read, "Lisbon's thoughts about Grace Van Pelt and Wayne Rigsby's relationship."

Unlike most of the authors, this writer's Pen Name wasn't "Always4Jisbon," or "Jisbonisawesome," instead, it was, "TTJML."

He curiously clicked on the story.

"_Lisbon glanced up from her paperwork out to the bull-pen. Van Pelt was laughing at something Rigsby said. She really felt bad for them. Hightower had been right to break them up, she knew, because she was their boss. However, they really loved each other, and they both deserved someone."_

He read the rest of the story, practically hypnotized be the writing. It didn't make Lisbon sound weak, it didn't make Rigsby sound dumb, it didn't make anyone on the team sound like aliens with the same names, and the writing style? Captivating. When he reached the end, there was an author's note. It read,

"_Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed. Feedback is, as always, appreciated."_

He smiled, and clicked the review button.

He was surprised when what popped up was a message: Anonymous Reviews Disabled.

This author does not accept anonymous reviews. Please login and come back to submit a signed review.

He hesitated, before scrolling up to the top of the page and clicking 'Sign up.'

He thought about his Pen name for a few moments. Finally, he decided. He typed, 'Shadow Man.'

After setting up his account, he retuned to TTJML's story. He clicked 'review,' and typed,

"_My dear, I am new to the FanFiction universe, but from what I have seen of it, they have trouble capturing these characters. Not you. You make Lisbon, Rigsby and Van Pelt sound completely in character. I can almost hear this actually happening. This sounds like something she might think. You really are an amazing writer. I see that you have written some other stories. I shall go read them, now."_

He scanned over the review, amazed at how easily he had typed so many honest words. Even if it was just a review for a story, it had been a long time that he had said so much, so honestly. He glanced at the _'My Dear,' _and chuckled. _Something left over from my 'psychic' days, _he noted. Then, he clicked 'Add story to favorites,' 'Add author to favorites,' and 'Subscribe to author.' Then, he clicked '_submit.'_

He clicked the link to her profile page, and began to read.

'_Hello, all. If you are on my profile page, the first thing you're probably wondering is the story behind my name. It is just the initials of me and my three brothers. I would tell you our names, but that wouldn't be smart, would it? Because if you really need to know, that would mean you were a stalker.'_

He chuckled, and then continued reading.

'_Anyway, I'm older than most of the people on this site, but I have a really stressful job, (Made more stressful by some of my co-workers, LOL,) and this provides a nice escape. I write for the Mentalist a lot. In fact, that's probably the only fandom I'll be writing for._

_I write Jisbon, (By the way, just out of curiosity, who makes up these shipper names, anyway? Jisbon? Really? However, I shall abide by the shipper terms.) Although at some point I might try Rigspelt. _

_One last thing: I sound very different in real life, but I like the freedom on here to talk however I feel like, without anything being expected of me.'_

He smiled. Then, he scrolled down and clicked on her next story.

Suddenly, he heard foot-steps heading toward him. Recognizing that they were Lisbon's, he signed off of AOL. He knew she probably wouldn't be pleased with him being on the site when he was supposed to be working, and would probably try to have the site blocked. _And with no computer at home, _he thought, _By letting her block it I would be losing my only link to TTJML. _

"Hey, Jane?"

He looked at her cheerfully and asked, "What's up, Lisbon?"

She studied him, trying to hide her worry, and replied, "It's nearly midnight. Shouldn't you be going home?"

He chuckled. "Pot, kettle."

She rolled her eyes and replied, "I'm getting ready to go home. You don't need to sleep at the CBI tonight."

He sighed dramatically, and replied, "Very well, Lisbon, if you insist."

She laughed and answered, "Good."

He stood and, making a dramatic show of it, walked to the elevator door and pressed the button.

She watched him until the elevator doors closed, then returned to her office to get her stuff and cut the computer and lights off.

Before she logged off of the internet, she realized she had a new e-mail. She scrolled over it, and saw that she had a review alert from FanFiction.

She hesitated. The professional thing to do would be to cut off the computer, go home, and read the review at home. However, she really wanted to read it, and after a few moments, curiosity won out.

She clicked.

"_My dear, I am new to the FanFiction universe, but from what I have seen of it, they have trouble capturing these characters. Not you. You make Lisbon, Rigsby and Van Pelt sound completely in character. I can almost hear this actually happening. This sounds like something she might think. You really are an amazing writer. I see that you have written some other stories. I shall go read them, now."_

She blushed. She was used to the usual "Great job, please write more."

This…this was detailed, interested…She smiled.

She clicked out, got her stuff together, and left.

When she got home, she went straight to her computer to check and see if 'Shadow Man' had reviewed anything else.

When she saw that she hadn't, she frowned.

_That's weird, _she thought, _I was sure I had a fan. Oh…well…_

She kept making excuses to stay up, such as making dinner, (even though she had already eaten,) checking her TV, (Even though she knew she hadn't missed anything,) and even dusting.

She kept checking to see if he had reviewed. She finally gave up and went to bed at around one A.M.

That night, Jane didn't dream of Red John, as he usually did. Instead, he kept replaying the story he had read in his sleep.

**A/N: So…Feed-back? Please? It would make my day! (And you never know! I just might be Lisbon! LOL…maybe not.)**


	2. Spoilers?

**A/N: Ah...Fifteen reviews? For my first chapter? Oh my gosh, you guys are...wow! I am totally at a loss for words. You guys are just...amazing! And, to my reviewers who would prefer to remain...anonymous? "don'thaveaname" : Thanks! And, to Ashley, thanks, and I'll never tell! ;-) Oh, and a very special thanks to the wonderful Holly 'Brown Eyes Parker.' She beta-read this chapter, and without her, I'm sure it would be full of mistakes.**

**.**

The next morning, Jane arrived at work fairly early. He wanted a chance to read more of TTJML's stories.

But, he couldn't help it- First; he had to read some other authors' stories.

He scrolled through a few, before finding one he was kind of confused by, "_I Promise_". The summery read, "Jane's thoughts during Red Badge, when Lisbon asked if she could count on him. So, spoilers for that episode, obviously."

He frowned. He wondered, what on earth is _Red Badge_?

He clicked.

"_He hates that look in her eyes. So scared, so vulnerable. 'I can count on you not to tell anybody about this, right? You know, on the team?' He tenderly reaches out to her, just wanting to make it all ok. _

_'Lisbon,' he begins, hoping to remind her that she can always count on him for anything._

_Â 'Jane, I need you to leave, ok? Can you do that?' _

_She doesn't want him there. He wants more than anything to simply hold her close and help her through this, but clearly, that's not what she wants. At least he has to reassure her. Ok, ok, it's going to be ok, alright? I promise. Ok?"  
>She nods weakly. He wants to be able to do more, but..."<em>

Jane froze, he had read enough. He had assumed, at the beginning that 'The Mentalist' was just the website's creative name for the team, and that the characters came from TV interviews.

He had thought that all of the 'Shows' on there were simply ways for people to write about famous people. But this? This was something they hadn't told anyone about. They hadn't even discussed it among themselves, for fear someone would hear. This conversation had just been between them in the privacy of her home.

He thought for a moment. He knew then that he needed to tell Lisbon, but that would probably mean losing the site.

"Hey."

He looked up at her surprised. She looked tired and grouchy. "Hey Lisbon, Are you ok?"

She frowned. "Yeah, why?"

He said, "Well, you look..." He paused. Her eyes had flashed onto the screen.

Anger filled her eyes. "What are you looking at?"

He shrugged guiltily. "Um, it's a website, . I found it yesterday. By the way, they seem to know a lot, about conversations we had in private and such..."

"Jane?" Her voice was thin, controlled. "_Why_ are you on Fan Fiction? How did you find it?"

He frowned at her. "Um, I was bored yesterday. Lisbon, I don't think you're hearing me. This site has…"

"I know what that site has! I'm. . . just… it's ok, alright? There's a TV show about us, it… you know what? Just forget it. Just stay away from the site, ok?"

He stared at her, confused, as she rushed to her office.

* * *

><p><em>What was your problem in there?<em> She asked herself. _Why didn't you just explain to him, very calmly, that some guys thought that a fake-psychic that got his wife and child killed working with the police force would make a good show? Why didn't you tell him about the agreement you had made with CBS: Show the show, but call it fiction? Why didn't you tell him about the cameras set up everywhere? Why not?_

But deep inside, she knew: She hadn't wanted Jane to know about her secret life on Fan Fiction, and if they talked about it much, she'd let it slip.

She buried her face in her hands. A few minutes passed. Suddenly, her computer dinged, showing that she had a new e-mail.

She scrolled over it. Another review on Fan Fiction, she didn't hesitate. She needed a pick-me-up.

It was a review for a story she had written the night after she and Jane had danced, wanting to write about the dance itself, but knowing the episode wouldn't have aired yet. So, she wrote about them dancing in a completely different setting. The review was from 'Shadow Man.' She felt a smile spreading across her face already.

_"My Dear, I apologize about not reviewing yesterday. There was a...misunderstanding at work, and now, I have one of my only friends mad at me, and I'm not sure what I did._

_Oh, I'm sorry, you don't care about this, you want me to review your story._

_OK._

_I am so impressed. It was simply perfect. And, may I just thank you for having him kiss her on the cheek, instead of the lips? I haven't read many stories, but from what I can tell, the authors on here seem to think that Jane will suddenly kiss her on the lips. Just, out of nowhere. And...I cannot see that._

_So, as I was saying, thanks._

_And, if I haven't mentioned this before, your style is beautiful._

_I hope to see more from you soon."_

She smiled, feeling very relaxed at the moment, about everything: Jane, Fan Fiction... everything.

She wasn't sure how she wanted to respond: reply to his comment about the fight, or simply thank him for the review.

But, she really wanted someone to talk to, and if he was so willing to share...

She smiled and cheerfully clicked 'Reply.'

* * *

><p>Jane sighed, he had read TTJML's story about him and Lisbon dancing, but now he wanted to get off the site. Not wanting to anger Lisbon anymore.<p>

He clicked on 'Sign In,' ready to click 'Log Out', when he thought of something. For whatever reason, people seemed to know details about the team's personal conversations. He wondered exactly how many stories like that there were.

He remembered in the summary, it had said something about 'Spoilers,' so he decided to put that into the search engine.

When he narrowed it down to just 'the Mentalist,' there were 132.

There was no way he could read all of those, but he decided to click on the first one he came to: **_"_**_Dance__."_ The summery simply said, "_A tag with spoilers for Rose-Colored Glasses. Jane and Lisbon dance literally, but Grace knows that they dance figuratively too."_

He curiously clicked it.

"_It was interesting to watch them dance on the dance floor, Grace noted. She had watched closely as he was talking to her, and she had seen the look in her eyes when the new song came on. All interest in Jane's words were gone. Despite the fact that Jane was still the number one Mentalist on the team, Grace had gotten better and better at noticing little things, and she saw the look flash through his eyes when she commented. Grace knew that the comment was about the song - just the way Lisbon glanced at the speakers told her that. And Grace could tell that he had decided to ask her to dance from the moment she commented. She wondered if Jane knew their boss had planned on him asking her to dance. Probably not, she decided."_

The writer continued with Grace's musings, including a sentence that really caught his eyes:

"_Grace wondered briefly how much progress Lisbon and Jane would make if they stopped dancing, and started talking_."

That was a clear double-meaning. He smirked and reviewed,

"_Great story. I like it. And the fact that you kept everyone in character is quite impressive_."

He pressed 'submit,' then returned to his main page. He noticed that he had a message. When he checked, he felt a smile spread across his face: It was from TTJML. He curiously read it.

"_Hey, I'm sorry that your friend is mad at you. Hopefully you guys can work it out soon. I am also having a fight with one of my friends, but it's a little different story than yours: He got too nosy, and I snapped. I really do need to talk to him, before we totally ruin our friendship._

_Oh, I'm sorry, you really don't care about this..._

_Anyway, thanks for the review, and trust me, there are a LOT of stories where she randomly kisses him, or visa- versa. It gets tiring, actually... LOL"_

He smiled slightly. But, her message had made him think: He really didn't want to ruin his friendship with Lisbon. If he had to apologize for doing something, even if he didn't know what it was, in order to save their friendship then so be it.

He stood and walked over to her office. He decided that it would be in his best interest to knock, even though he normally didn't.

"Come in."

He opened the door, and she smiled at him gently.

He began, "Um, Lisbon, about earlier, I'm…"

She cut him off. "I'm sorry about that Jane, I was just really stressed, and..."

He raised his eyebrows and decided to test her. He wanted to know if she was still mad. "Yeah, going to bed so late does that to you."

She tried to glare at him, but honestly, she was simply in too good of a mood.

He thought for a moment, studying her reaction, before deciding it was safe to ask.

"Um, about Fan Fiction..."

She smiled. "It's a long story..."

**.**

**A/N: **

**Ok, I did my best explaining the slight complication that would rise from this, (i.e. there being a show about them and his not knowing about it,) so if you guys will give me a little creative room on this one, I'll try and keep it as realistic as possible, given the storyline. :-)**

**Oh, and as for all of you who are wondering if I'm Lisbon or not? Maybe, maybe not! ;-)**


	3. Answer And Questions

**A/N: Ok, a couple of things: First of all, I'm sorry it took so long. Go ahead, throw things at me. I know I deserve it. I'm really sorry. I've been so busy with… stuff. Anyways, I am here now. :-)**

**And I have to give special shout-outs to a couple of people: Brown Eyes Parker, who is the most amazing beta reader in the world, and gave me permission to use any of her stories in this, as long as I credit her, (So if I have a story in here that says it is written by a Brown Eyes Parker, it is. :-) And to Jane (A.K.A TotalCitron.) He/she has taken to calling me Lisbon, which is fine. I may be! Or I may not…like I said, I'll never tell! ;-)**

**.**

"So, you were searching for yourself on Google?"

Lisbon had already explained to Jane as simply as she could about the show, and a tiny bit about Fan Fiction. She was now finding out how he'd found it in the first place, and she was certainly going to tease him about it for as long as she could.

"Well. . . yeah. I was bored! I mean, honestly, if a dead body doesn't show up soon, I think I'll go mad!"

She smirked. "Okay. . . but really? You had to look up _yourself?"_

He chuckled. "Well, I considered typing your name, but I knew if you found out then you'd throw something at me! Or shoot me…"

Ah, there it was that blush he loved so much. He wasn't sure why he liked it, and honestly, he didn't care. He just knew that if she was blushing, he was smiling.

"Hush."

He shrugged lightly. "You asked."

She reached for her stapler quickly. They both knew he would get out of the room before it hit him, but it was still fun to see his eyes widen at the sight. He closed the door just before the stapler would have collided with his nose. With a smile on his face, he returned to his computer.

Lisbon sighed. She didn't really have much paperwork left, and honestly she was bored. She barely thought about it before logging onto Fan Fiction. She had two messages: One from Shadow Man and another from a younger friend of hers that she had gotten to talking to. The girl called her a mentor. She considered for a moment which she should read first, but in the end worry about her new friend won out. She clicked, and his message read,

_"I get the feeling you're a smart woman. In other words, not the kind of person who would be sitting around waiting to hear about the life of a person you've never met. Especially when you've just started talking to them, but I just thought I'd let you know that my friend and I talked things out. I am still not quite sure why she was so mad, but it doesn't matter. We're ok now. And by the way, I will always be happy to review your stories. You really are a great writer. :-)"_

She blushed, she knew it was a simple compliment, but it meant a lot to her. She considered replying, and then decided to check in on her other friend, Mrs. Castle. (She found it interesting that so many Mentalist writers were also fans of a show called Castle.)

The message said,

"_Hey, I have an issue… I don't understand it. You see, there's this guy who's always, like…I don't even know how to say it. I met him through work, he came into my store one day, and he… I don't know, he was nice that day. But after that, he has come in almost daily. He makes comments about my clothes, my hair, my jewelry… not rude comments, just comments that make me blush and stuff. And the sad part is, I've actually gotten to where I __like__ it. It's like a daily game. I have an idea of what's going on, of course. But I want to make sure you say the same thing before I go and do something that could ruin my good (Albeit, somewhat weird) friendship with him. So, what do you think?"_

She didn't even think before typing her reply:

"_I really think you already know what's going on. He wants to ask you out, but he's a little shy. Or at least, he's nervous about how you'll react. Obviously, he's not shy, if he works so hard at making you blush. But you know what I mean; anyway, it's your choice. You can ask him out, or at least flirt with him a little more, if you have the same feelings for him. Or if you don't, you have to be honest with him. However, I think you do feel the same, as you said you liked it. Best of luck._

_-TTJML."_

She was about to hit '_send_' when she realized something:

The girl's situation sounded an awful lot like her situation with Jane, and surely Jane didn't – no – she didn't even allow herself to finish the thought.

_This situation is totally different in many different ways._

It didn't make sense, even to her, but the thought somehow calmed her.

She pressed '_send_', before deciding to go re-read one of her favorite author's stories.

She clicked on the author, and scrolled down through her stories. Admittedly the author, Brown Eyes Parker had written a lot of stories, and each got better than the last. But Lisbon's personal favorite was actually the first one she'd ever posted a story called, '_Thanksgiving Day_.'

Honestly, she wasn't sure why she liked it.

_Probably for the same reason you like writing Jisbon, _she reminded herself. _Because you haven't been on an actual date since you were twenty-five years old, and Jane, you have to admit, isn't bad looking?_

She glared at no one in particular after that thought, before deciding that she just _had_ to re-read 'Thanksgiving Day', she didn't hesitate before clicking it.

"_Her apartment smelled of perfume, turkey, and green bean casserole. He recognized the scents before she even let him in. He didn't even have to knock; she opened the door and let him in before he had a chance to raise his hand to the door._

_His breath caught in his throat when he saw her standing in the threshold. She was dressed in a cranberry-colored wrap dress, a gold chain rested delicately on her collar-bone, and her hair was in a loose bun. She wasn't wearing any shoes or nylons._

_He cleared his throat nervously, handed her a bottle of white wine, and leaned into kiss her cheek. 'Happy Thanksgiving, Lisbon.'"_

And with those words, one of her favorite Fan Fictions _ever_ began.

Jane sighed. He had read and reviewed every one of TTJML's stories, and honestly he wasn't sure what else to do.

Suddenly, he had an idea. He minimized AOL, before pulling up a Word document. He hesitated. He wasn't sure what he wanted to type exactly. So, he decided to just type his thoughts from the third person point of view.

"_Patrick Jane's eyes were drawn to Grace Van Pelt, sitting at her computer desk.  
>He thought sadly about her. It had been her decision to leave Rigsby that much he knew.<em>

_Rigsby wouldn't end his relationship with his dream woman just because someone pressured him to. His thoughts were drawn to Lisbon. He had heard about her scene after he quit. The one where she told Minnelli that she wasn't going to lay off because some 'Fat Cat' was 'Putting on the pressure.' _

_He smiled at the thought. He hadn't actually seen it, of course, but many people had been more than happy to tell him about it later. He was so proud of her, and also very, very grateful to have a friend like her. He knew that there was a line, a line between their friendship, and something more."_

He paused. _Where did that come from? _He thought for a moment before deciding to just go with it. After all, he was writing about himself in the third person. The situation couldn't get any weirder anyway.

"_He wasn't sure when it had happened. He hadn't planned on getting anywhere near that line with her. She was a little pushy in that respect, however. She wouldn't let him shut her out, so he couldn't help but get closer to that line. Now? He had actually touched the line on occasion. Then, he would take five steps back, then slowly work his way back to the line, which he would touch, and then take the five steps back again. Honestly, it got kind of tiring. But he knew that was how it had to be."_

He continued to type, not really thinking about it just letting his fingers fly. Finally, he finished he read it over, and decided that it was good. He liked it, aside from the obvious, of course.

He decided to send TTJML a message and ask for her advice on the story, so that he didn't do anything really frowned upon in the Fan Fiction universe. He went back to Fan Fiction, and found that he had a message from TTJML. He grinned and clicked on it.

"_Hey! Before I sent you this, I checked my stories. You reviewed every one? Let me just thank you for that! Anyways, I'm glad you worked things out with your friend. My friend and I did also. I was ready to throw something at him by the end of the conversation, so I guess things are back to normal! LOL, anyway, I'm done rambling. :-)"_

He chuckled and clicked reply.  
>_<p>

Lisbon smiled at the latest story on Fan Fiction. It was another story that other writers would have dubbed "OOC." 

It was kind of amusing, actually:

"_Jane was kissing her. Patrick Jane was kissing her! And she wasn't complaining. She couldn't believe it, really. If anyone had told her that a simple case-closed pizza party at her house would have led to this, she would have laughed in their faces._

_But here he was kissing her. It had started out innocently enough. Grace had wanted to play _Spin the Bottle_. They had all been kind of tired so maybe that's why they had agreed._

_In any case, when it was her turn, it had landed on Cho. She could have sworn she saw steam coming out of Jane's ears, but she brushed off the thought at least until Cho pulled away, and she felt Jane grab her hand and pull her close. And the next thing she knew, he was kissing her. _

_When he pulled away, he murmured, 'Will you marry me?' She smiled broadly and replied, tears in her eyes, 'Of course I will, Patrick.'"_

Lisbon chuckled. Oh, wow! So many things wrong with that story, but the two that really got to her were:

One, Jane would have known that she was just as uncomfortable as Cho was, and Two, there is no way she would have started crying if he proposed!

_Not that he was planning a proposal of any kind any time soon…_

She cut off the thought by clicking 'Sign in.' She realized she had a message from Shadow Man. She smiled and clicked. It explained that he had written a new story, and that he wanted to know if there was anything else he should do to it before he posted it.

She thought for a moment before typing, _"Why don't you let me beta-read it? That means I'll check for mistakes, and also I'll make sure you did everything you need to. You won't be able to post it until tomorrow anyway."_

Jane smiled at TTJML's response, so helpful.

He accepted, and a few minutes later, she had a copy of his story.

The next day, Jane got it back with a couple of things added: An editor's note, and a disclaimer: _I wish I did own the Mentalist, but…No such luck._

He realized that the story was probably illegal otherwise, and posted it.

Throughout the day he got reviews, all of which made him smile, but only one made him laugh out loud. It simply said, _"I don't know. I think you have Jane a little Out Of Character."_

**A/N: So, you know how the reviews made Jane smile? And you know how Lisbon smiles at most of the things Jane does? And you know how I might be Lisbon? So…Please? **


	4. Discovering and Dinner

**A/N: Ok, I am really, really sorry I took so long to update. I have been either busy or exhausted most of that time, but I still feel really, really bad about not updating sooner. Thank all of you who are patiently hanging in there through this story. You guys are amazing. Really amazing. **

**So, before I begin, this chapter is a tiny bit angsty at first. It goes back to humor pretty quickly, but just so you know…**

Jane shook. He had just gotten to her house, but already he knew something was off; the door was open to her apartment. That was something she would never do. He stepped inside nervously. To his horror, there was a smiley-face on the staircase. Red. He took a deep breath. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to leave. He could just call Lisbon and she would tell him that ˜everything was ok, and wait, why was he in her apartment anyways?' But he couldn't seem to make himself leave. Instead, he walked up the stairs, finding her hallway lined with smiley-faces. Suddenly, he heard her voice:

"_Jane, are you ok?"_

He blinked. He was at the office. Lisbon was at her desk. It was just a dream. He breathed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" He smiled innocently.

She frowned. "You were kind of crying over there…"

He hesitated. Normally he didn't play the sympathy card. It was the last thing he wanted. But here, it seemed to give him the easiest out. He glanced at the ground before shrugging. "Nightmare," he answered quietly, silencing the guilt he felt by reminding himself it was true. Just not in the way she thought.

"Oh," she answered. The words weren't much, but the gentle, caring look in her eyes spoke volumes.

He really needed to change the subject. Suddenly, he noticed something on her computer screen. Perfect. He smirked. "Fan Fiction? _Really?_"

She blushed, and quickly minimized the screen. "I need somewhere to complain about you," she quickly explained.

He smirked. "Right," he replied innocently.

She reached for her stapler, when Cho popped his head into the room. "Hey, boss, your brother's here. Says he's engaged needs to talk to you."

She placed the stapler back delicately, before saying, "Thanks," and quickly following, leaving Jane with a smirk on his face.

The moment she was gone, however, his smirk fell.

That had been close. He had been having Red John dreams for years, of course, and had always feared that he would get to Lisbon, but thankfully, the two had never collided. Until he started reading Fan Fiction, and all of these ready-made scenarios where Red John killed her filled his thoughts.

That had been two weeks ago.

His first nightmare had been about a week ago, and he had had many since, but they had all been in the safety of his house, where no one could see him and ask questions.

He hesitated, wondering whether reading Fan Fiction was doing more harm than good.

But he just loved reading TTJML's stuff.

Suddenly, something crossed his mind.

Lisbon had just minimized the screen, not exited it completely.

_I __wonder __what __kind __of __Fan__Fiction __Lisbon __writes__…_He moved to her computer quickly, bringing the full screen up.

It was on the home page. He quickly went to her stories. When he read the titles, his eyebrows shot up. _No __way._ Just to be sure, he glanced up at the screen-name, already knowing what he was going to see.

_TTJML._

Suddenly, a chain-reaction went off in his head: _'__T-Teresa,__T-Tommy,__J-James,__M-Matthew,__L-Lisbon.__'_

No way!

No way!

_No way!_

But there it was. He glanced back down at the stories. There was one he didn't recognize, so he decided to read it.

It was a song-fic. He had run into a few of them, all of them being way out there.

He actually found a song-fic once to '_Are __you __gonna __kiss __me __or __not?'_

The first sentence excluded them, but the person still wrote it.

This song he didn't recognize. '_I__'__d __Lie' _by Taylor Swift. . . _Hmmm.__.__.__._

He read it and chuckled. It was well-written and fitting, he had never heard the song before, but he already loved it. When it got to a part that said, 'Loves to argue,' He had to chuckle even more. She had written about their ˜Couch-Argument."

"_She __never __did __find __out __what __he __did __with __her __couch, __but __she __had __to __admit, __the __new __one __was __more __comfortable_."

He chuckled again, _I __knew __it_.

He finished the story quickly, minimized the page again, and moved back to the couch.

He closed his eyes, smiling.

He drifted off to sleep, and this time he knew no nightmares awaited him, as before he was even completely asleep, he heard the lyrics of '_I__'__d __Lie__'_ drifting through his head.

_I could tell you that his favorite color's green. . ._

**.**

About an hour later, Lisbon returned to her office. Jane was again fast asleep, but the grin on his face told her she didn't want to wake him up, he was obviously getting such a good, relaxing sleep.

She moved to her computer to cut it off, when she heard, "Leaving?"

She spun back around. It was obvious he had just woke up, and she felt slightly guilty for waking him, but he seemed cheerful enough, so she didn't feel too bad. She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I'm going home."

He smirked, and replied, "To what, eat leftovers and watch a romantic movie? No, not a movie. . . something that can make you relax, forget the darkness you see, probably something you can be a child watching, something your niece watches, probably… ah, yes._Victorious_ re-runs?"

She blushed and shrugged. "It's a good way to relax."

He smiled. "Well, why don't you skip it tonight, and go to dinner with me?"

She looked at him in surprise. He simply smiled innocently.

She hesitated, before sighing. "Fine, but I'm driving!"

He shook his head. "Nope! It's my turn."

She glared. "That's for when we're going to crime scenes, not dinner!"

He smirked. "There's a difference?"

The two stared at each other for a moment. Suddenly, an idea hit him.

"C'mon," he pouted. "The passenger seat has a better view anyway."

She froze. _No__way.__.__._

But he simply kept the look on his face, and finally she decided it was a coincidence.

"Fine," she said quickly.

He smirked. "Thank you. Now give me the keys."

She did quickly. "At least you're not driving me around in that car of yours!"

He huffed, pretending to be offended. "I offer to take you out to dinner, and you insult my car?"

She laughed. "Well, you didn't say anything about paying," she teased. "If you are, I might take it back."

He faked surprise. "Of course I'm paying! I asked, didn't I? So I'm paying!"

She smirked. "I take it back, then. Your car is wonderful!"

"You want to take it instead?" He teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't push it," she shot back. "I could still go home and watch _Victorious_."

He chuckled. "Meh. You're too curious. You want to know where I'll take you to eat. And just to make sure you stay, I'm not going to tell you!"

She laughed. "Wow, you're desperate to take me out for dinner, huh?"

Perfect. He had known it would come to something like this eventually.

He dropped the teasing expression for just a moment. "Yes," he replied simply.

Her face was priceless, he admitted. She blushed, her eyes widened, and her face as a whole looked amazed.

The next moment his teasing grin was back, and she told herself it was in her head.

"Shall we?" He asked.

She nodded. He smiled softly as she walked ahead of him. Her face had all but returned to normal, except for the lovely blush.

He quickly went to catch up with her. "Guitar."

She jumped and looked at him in confusion. "What?"

He smirked. "You played guitar in high school."

She blushed and nodded. "Yeah. . . wait, it took you this long to figure that out?"

He chuckled. "Well…"

She placed her hands on her hips. "You knew what I played this whole time, didn't you?"

He shrugged sheepishly. "Well. . . you just looked so cute, thinking you beat me for once."

Her mouth dropped open, and he just smirked.

**A/N: Well, there's only one more chapter after this, and it's already basically written. So, did it make up for the long wait? No? I'm sorry, really. I love all of you, and I want to especially thank Brown Eyes Parker for her awesome beta-reading**


	5. Final Revelations

A/N: Well, this is the last chapter… :-( Anyway, thank you for your faithful reviews, and I apologize for my less-than-faithful updates. Reality keeps getting in the way…And if I haven't responded to your review on the last chapter I promise I will, I've just been so busy. You are all awesome!

**.**

"Are- what- Um-That's-I—"

He chuckled. "What?"

She took a deep breath. "Umm. . .I looked—"

"Hey, boss."

The two looked up, surprised.

Grace stood there, looking confused.

It was obvious she had interrupted something, and her first impulse was to apologize, when she noticed some things.

First of all, Lisbon's face looked flushed. Second of all, Jane's face looked almost familiar.

Kind of like Rigsby's face had looked close to a year ago when Jane opened the door right after Rigsby told her that he—

Ohhh. . . _No__way._

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked innocently, hiding a smirk.

"No!" Lisbon answered.

As Jane answered _yes_ at the same time.

She chuckled. "Well that clears everything up."

Lisbon's cheeks were turning darker and darker.

Jane looked slightly irritated, but mostly amused.

She waited a moment, before an idea hit her.

She had pushed Rigsby away quite a bit right after he told her how he felt and she was usually good with emotional things.

Lisbon. . . Lisbon would run the other direction so hard and fast that by the time she accepted it, Jane's heart might not be willing to let her back in.

She needed some prompting.

Grace quickly kissed Jane's cheek, before saying, "Night Jane, night Boss."

She quickly walked off, stopping around the corner. She had helped Jane out, she reasoned. She at least had a right to hear how it played out.

She heard a moment of silence before Lisbon's slightly confused, "I'm. . . going to the restroom."

_Great._ Grace leaned back against the wall.

She listened to the footsteps walking away, and then heard Jane softly say, _"__Grace?__"_

She jumped. _Of__course__he__noticed_. She guiltily walked back around the corner, blushing.

He was smirking slightly.

She sighed. "Umm. . . I just. . . I was—"

He shook his head smiling, he interrupted. "You were just trying to make Lisbon jealous so she wouldn't run away quite as fast. However, there was one flaw with your idea."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "Yes. I hadn't told her that I loved her, just that I thought she looked cute thinking she had outsmarted me for once. So, your helpful idea—"

"Not so helpful." Grace finished.

Suddenly, she noticed a shadow across the room. Looks like she wasn't the only one eavesdropping. She recognized the shadow as Lisbon's, and decided to have a little fun with it. Keeping a straight face, she replied, "But you do, don't you?"

He looked slightly confused, so she explained, "Love her?"

He blushed slightly. _Not__a__sight__you__see__every__day_. . . Grace suddenly wished she had a camera.

He took a deep breath, before replying. "Yes."

She smirked. "Then you might want to tell her."

He nodded toward Rigsby's currently empty desk, before smiling. "Hi kettle. Nice to meet you. Pot."

"I'm engaged," She reminded him, glancing away.

He chuckled. "Whatever."

She smirked, revenge was so fun. "By the way, you don't need to tell her you love her."

He was clearly confused by this. "Oh?"

She struggled to keep a straight face as she looked past him at the shadow. "You already have."

He followed her eyes and chuckled. "Hey Lisbon."

She stepped out from the shadows, glaring at Grace.

Jane chuckled again and shot Grace a look.

She nodded and walked away. But she couldn't stop herself from leaning back against the wall and listening.

"No you don't," she heard Lisbon tell Jane.

"Huh?"

"You don't love me." She sounded shaky, but stubborn.

"Really?"

"Really. You're just messing with me again."

"No I'm not." He didn't sound hurt though. He understood why she doubted him, Grace guessed.

"Yes, you are."

There was a beat of silence, before she heard Jane say, "Shadow man."

It meant nothing to her, but obviously it meant something to Lisbon, because after a moment she said, "Oh. . . Oh. . . Um. . .TTJML—"

"I know."

Grace decided she'd have to look the words up later, because they were obviously important.

After a few moments more, she heard Lisbon. "I need to know that you're serious. Because if you aren't I won't ever be able to trust you again."

There were a few more moments of silence before she heard, "Lisbon, I promise. In fact—"

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I do. It wouldn't be fair to either of you to not."

Grace couldn't help it. She was overcome with curiosity, so she peaked around the corner. Jane was holding his ring in his palm.

Grace smiled slightly.

He dropped it into his pocket.

Lisbon gently took his hand in her own.

With his free hand he gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Knowing she had seen enough, Grace pulled back around the corner and ran straight into Rigsby.

She blushed and smiled. "Um, you don't want to go that way," she whispered.

"Why not?"

She hesitated.

He chuckled. "Scared of the dark?" he teased.

She shook her head. "No, um—"

He stepped past her.

She followed._I_ _at__least__want__to__see__his__face._

To her surprise, however, Jane and Lisbon were just standing there talking quietly.

Her face was flushed, and his was a shade darker than usual, but other than that, there were no signs of the kiss Grace knew they had shared.

"Hey Rigsby!" Jane said cheerfully.

"Hey," he said looking at Grace strangely.

She froze, before just shrugging. _Fine,__let__him__think__I__'__m__insane.__At__least__he__didn__'__t__notice__how__Jane__and__the__boss__look._

He walked off, and Grace raised her eyebrows at them.

Jane chuckled. "Your gasp when you ran into Rigsby was loud enough that we heard."

She chuckled in reply and walked away.

She heard as she walked off, "If you even think I am ever kissing you in the office again…"

"Aww, c'mon, Teresa."

"If Grace hadn't—"

"But she did. Be reasonable."

She shook her head. Still Boss and still Jane.

Jane finally gave up the argument. He knew she wouldn't be willing to plan kissing in the office anyway. He'd have to surprise her later.

In the meantime dinner.

Grace gasped. She had Googled 'TTJML' and 'Shadow Man' when she got home and couldn't believe what she found. It was a website with stories about them!

And if they were both those writers, (Believable, especially since she remembered the night in Shadow Man's story,) Lisbon had accepted her feelings a long time ago.

Suddenly, an idea hit her.

She and Rigsby couldn't have their happily ever after in real life. However, an anonymous writer on a website? There, she could do whatever she wanted without being judged.

Pulling up a word document, she began to type.

_It was the day of Grace Van Pelt and Wayne Rigsby's wedding…_

**A/N: Well, that's all for this story! :( I'll miss you all! (And I'm still not telling you if I'm Lisbon! ;-) Until next time…By the way, I noticed that several of you wanted to see the date, so should that be the 'Next time?' Should I write a one-shot about their date as a sequel? **


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